AFC Energy

AFC Energy PLC is a developer of alkaline fuel cells which use hydrogen for electricity production.

The company is based in Cranleigh, Surrey, United Kingdom.

It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

History

The company was established in 2006 by the acquisition of certain intellectual property rights and assets from Eneco. In 2010, it commissioned a hydrogen fuel cell named ''Alpha System'' at the Chinchilla underground coal gasification facility, operated by Linc Energy. Combining these technologies allows usage of hydrogen, produced by the underground coal gasification process, as a feedstock for the fuel cell.

In August 2011, the company commissioned hydrogen fuel cell named ''Beta System'' at its facility in the United Kingdom.

In October 2011, AFC Energy commissioned two ''Beta Systems'' at the AkzoNobel chlor-alkali plant in Bitterfeld, in Germany.

In June 2012, AFC Energy and Industrial Chemicals Limited announced a plan to install the largest fuel cell facility in the United Kingdom with an electrical output of 1  MW.

This was subsequently abandoned in 2013 in favour of deploying a large system at an Air Products facility at Stade, Germany. In September 2012, the company opened an alkaline fuel cell electrode pilot production plant in Dunsfold, Surrey.

In March 2015, AFC committed to build a 50 MW fuel cell park in South Korea, as part of a joint venture with two local companies, Samyoung and Changsing Chemical.

In April 2015, AFC Energy signed a memorandum of understanding with Dubai Carbon for a 300 MW fuel cell park in Dubai.

However, no progress of these projects has been reported.

In August 2015, AFC Energy commenced operation of its first KORE fuel cell system in Stade, Germany.

In January 2016, the system reached capacity of 200 kW.

In July 2018, the company agreed to install a 200–400 kW fuel cell unit at the Southern Oil's biorefinery at Gladstone, Australia.

In April 2019, AFC Energy confirmed details of a new high-power density alkaline fuel cell technology, ideal where space and weight are relevant production considerations. Adam Bond, CEO at AFC Energy, said it was "a fuel cell platform capable of delivering performance only previously seen in other membrane-based fuel cell technologies, and at lower operating temperatures."

Through 2019 AFC Energy altered its focus towards EV charging and partnered with Rolec. Perceived advantages of the AFC Energy system are the ability to operate in remote off-grid areas, the ability to neutralise the constraints of grid capacity in any situation, and carbon-free power generation. During 2019 AFC also set about branding its products. Of particular interest are the solid electrolyte fuel cell scheduled for release in 2022, and the Alkamem membrane, a high density fuel cell with possible applications in electrolysis. Its market capitalisation was some 7- 10% of other UK-listed hydrogen companies such as ITM power and Ceres Power. In June 2020 AFC Energy entered into an agreement with Acciona, a large Spanish construction company with a multi-national presence, to demonstrate the AFC Energy fuel cell on site.

In July 2020 AFC Energy announced a collaboration with Extreme E to use its hydrogen fuel cell technology to enable its race fleet to be charged using zero emission energy. The by-product of utilizing these hydrogen fuel cell power generators for charging, water, will be used elsewhere on-site.

2022 was a year of altered focus for AFC. The liquid fuel cell as deployed in the Extreme E racing series, was considered obsolete having achieved no commercial success and being superseded by the new solid fuel cell. The first manifestation of this, The Power Tower, was launched at the AGM in April 2022 and was mooted as the company's game-changer. The initial offering was a 10Kw hydrogen generator and it was in this format that trials took place during H2 with Keltbray, Kier, Acciona and Mace. As of Christmas 2022 not outcome from these trials had been released by AFC Energy, although the CEO did describe one as yielding irrefutable proof of concept. Whether this was proof of technical success or commercial viability was not defined. AFC released little substantive news during the latter part of 2022.

The potential market for the Power Tower remains unclear and AFC has always intended the 10Kw offering to be the base for evolution. A 100 KW system was scheduled for delivery to ABB in late 2022, although there was no news of this as of Christmas. AFC has trialled methanol conversion in the field, this being central to its "fuel Flex" philosophy and the adoption of both methanol and ammonia as H2 carriers may prove keys as larger systems are developed. An eventual goal is ammonia-powered systems in the MW ranger for the likes of maritime propulsion and power.

2023 is a crucial year for AFC. Enowa, a Saudi-based organisation, appears to have assumed branding of the AFC fuel cell used in Extreme E on an unknown basis. AFC has made no comment on change and Enowa has not commented on whether AFC fuel cells will be used in the 2023 season. There is no substantive evidence of a direct commercial link between the two companies. Commercially, AFC has to demonstrate that it can scale it technology, integrate fuel flex and commence production. Economically it has to show that it has a product that is commercially viable and commercially desirable. AFC will also need to attract institutional investors, something that has proven a challenge hitherto. If AFC can achieve these goasl, and communicate with markets more effectively than it does in the past, it has a bright outlook over 12-24 months. Notably, analysts maintain high sp targets typically in the 150-200p range; this would yield a MCap some 7-10 times that at present and place AFC on a par with peers.

2023 is also a crucial year for the CEO of AFC who has now been in post for 8 years without a record of commercial success. Investors will be looking for firm evidence, supported by results, that he is able to guide AFC to commercial success and return shareholder value as AFC has lost some 80% of its value since it peaked 2 years ago

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Afc Energy Plc
Fuel cell manufacturers
Companies based in Surrey
Engineering companies of the United Kingdom